NEW DELHI: Yet again,
financially beleaguered state-run carrier Air India is looking for a new Chief
Operating Officer (COO). Advertisements for the posts have already been
published in a section of the media and the airline’s website as well. Gustav
Baldauf, who had earlier worked for Austrian Airlines and Jet Airways, was the
first COO that the airline had appointed at a whopping salary of over `3 crore
per annum. However, he was unceremoniously removed for telling the government
to not interfere with the matters of the carrier.
Baldauf’s package and his foreign
origin had raised several eyebrows with people questioning why the airline
could not find an Indian professional for the post. Possibly, keeping in mind
the furore that followed Baldauf’s appointment, the government has severely
curtailed the pay packet, bringing it down to `40-60 lakh per annum. “The
candidate will get another 40% (including perks) as performance-linked-pay
based on key performance indicators (KPI) which will be determined by
management/board,” an Air India official said. The post is currently being held
by KM Unni on an additional charge along with the airline’s SBU- head (MRO-
airframe). “The COO would be part of the top management team and would be
responsible for operations of Air India including flight safety, ground
operations and flight training and will also be overall in-charge of quality
management system (QMS) & integrated operations control cell (IOCC),” said
an Air India official.
The airline has also said that the
commercial pilot recruited in this post will have to have qualifications on at
least one of the fleet with Air India.
“A minimum 10.000 hours of flying
experience out of which at least 5,000 hours as a commander on any type of
aircraft in the current fleet of the Airline will be required,” the official
said. Chandrakumar, who had been appointed as the acting COO of the AI Express,
has already sought a VRS though his term comes to an end next year. The post
was then offered to Sunil Kishen who is presently the ED of the southern
region. However, his confirmation is yet to be heard of. Other candidates who
had been appointed around the same time as Baldauf at hefty packages had also
exited around February last year.
AI Express COO Pawan Arora’s and Sukumar, chief of training had
both quit after being hired for a package of about `1.5 crore. The airline also
hired Nikhil Jain recently as Director-Personnel on deputation from the Indian
Railways.
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